A weekend of records for U of S Huskies men’s hockey team

It was a weekend of accolades for the University of Saskatchewan men’s hockey team.

Not only did the team wrap up its first regular season in the new Merlis Belsher Place with another pair of weekend wins, it did so by setting a new all-time single-season record for wins in a season with 23.

Saskatchewan first tied the mark on Friday with a thrilling 1-0 overtime win against the Mount Royal Cougars.

With the game in double overtime, Saskatchewan’s Levi Cable skated the length of the ice to disrupt a scoring chance by the Cougars. He then raced down the ice to score the game-winning goal.

Saskatchewan outshot the Cougars 45-14 on Friday, forcing Mount Royal goaltender Riley Morris to make 44 saves.

His counterpart was Huskies goalie Taran Kozun, who backstopped his team for his fifth shutout of the season.

A Saturday rematch between the two teams would see totally different results.

A pair of goals from captain Jesse Forsberg would guide the Huskies to a 6-1 win and a record of 23-3-0 to establish the new record.

Saskatchewan last reached 22 wins in a season during the 2015-16 season.

But Kozun was the one who owned the night, not allowing a goal until just over four minutes left in the third period. That set a new Canada West record for consecutive shutout minutes in the regular season.

The streak ended at 267 minutes and 32 seconds — almost four entire games without allowing a goal.

Kozun hadn’t allowed a goal since a Jan. 19 game against the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns, a streak that is now 12 minutes longer than the previous mark set by Kris Lazaruk of the University of Calgary Dinos in 2014-15.

The Huskies have now won eight straight and will travel to Winnipeg to finish the regular season on Friday and Saturday.

Saskatchewan is hoping to close out the season with two wins as they continue to keep a narrow one-point lead over the University of Alberta Golden Bears.

The Huskies’ 2018-19 season might be remembered as one of its best. On top of setting a new wins record for the storied program, they managed to go 13-1 at Merlis Belsher Place.